Henderson sentencing could bring life in prison

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge will sentence today a Landover man convicted of murdering Lindsay Marie Harvey, 25, of Gaithersburg in April 2008.

Prosecutors will be pushing for a penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole for 27-year-old Shawn Henderson, according to the county State's Attorney's Office.

In February, a jury convicted the former Gaithersburg native of robbing and shooting Harvey, a DNA analyst, as she walked from her car to her apartment on Quince Orchard Boulevard. Henderson stole Harvey's wallet, robbed her of $40 and left her to die behind a trash bin, according to Assistant State's Attorneys George Simms and Sherri Koch, who said that Henderson recruited two younger companions to help with the crime.

Aaron Shepherd, 20, of Gaithersburg was convicted in January of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Anthony Moore, 16, pleaded guilty to the same charge in March and will serve 18 months.

Henderson was on probation for three counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count of carrying a weapon openly with the intent to injure at the time of Harvey's murder. Police and prosecutors say that in November 1999, he slashed the throats of two upcounty residents and stabbed another in the neck in robberies outside the victims' homes. Henderson was released from prison nearly six years early through a combination of "good behavior" credits in prison and a sentence reconsideration.

The early prison release and subsequent murder have prompted calls for changes in legislation.